Either crocins, at a dose which did not influence animals’ motor activity (50 mg/kg), or diazepam (1.5 mg/kg), significantly increased the latency to enter the dark compartment and prolonged the time spent in the lit chamber in the rats. Conversely, lower doses of crocins (15–30 mg/kg) did not substantially modify animals’ behaviour. The present results indicate that treatment with these active constituents of Crocus sativus L. induce anxiolytic-like effects in the rat.

Saffron is considered the most perfect of all spices. It comes from the stigma of the stunningly beautiful violet crocus flower. During a two-week period in autumn, three stigmas from each flower are handpicked and dried. It takes 225,000 stigmas from 75,000 flowers to produce just a pound of the herb. Eating saffron dispels depression and eliminates psychological inertia, and it was once thought that you could die of "excessive joy" by eating too much of it. Drinking the tea is said to bestow the gift of clairvoyance and greatly enhance the body’s healing powers. Yellow safflower is often used as a cheaper substitute for saffron, but true saffron has a deep red color and imparts a golden yellow hue to the food to which it is added. The alchemists considered saffron the gold of the plant kingdom and believed it carried the "signature" of the great transmuting agent for which the alchemists spent their lives searching. According to legend, Hermes created saffron when he accidentally wounded his friend Crocus, whose blood dripped to earth and sprouted as the flower that bears his name. Saffron was sacred to the Egyptian supreme god, Amen, and the Egyptians grew it in their sacred gardens at Luxor. Persian priests were said to have controlled the winds with saffron, and Persian women attached balls of saffron to their bellies to facilitate safe pregnancies. Saffron was also sacred to Eos, the Greek god of the morning light, and the spice has been described as the dawn’s light solidified. In the Middle Ages, it was sprinkled over the beds of newlywed nobility to ensure a fruitful marriage, and the incense was used for psychic work. Alchemist Roger Bacon believed that saffron delayed the aging process, and some modern psychics believe its odor and taste connect one to the eternal essences of childhood. Planet: Sun. [Fire]

I tried saffron, but a medicinal dosage of loose spice in warm milk. I remember singing out loud, loudly, which I'm normally too self conscious to do at the volume I was doing it. I'm going to try so more, though I do remember feeling like I was cognitively dull and not quite right for a little while.

I had no idea that saffron could kill you! I think one need to eat a redline baggie full, though.

Saffron is considered the most perfect of all spices. It comes from the stigma of the stunningly beautiful violet crocus flower. During a two-week period in autumn, three stigmas from each flower are handpicked and dried. It takes 225,000 stigmas from 75,000 flowers to produce just a pound of the herb. Eating saffron dispels depression and eliminates psychological inertia, and it was once thought that you could die of "excessive joy" by eating too much of it. Drinking the tea is said to bestow the gift of clairvoyance and greatly enhance the body’s healing powers. Yellow safflower is often used as a cheaper substitute for saffron, but true saffron has a deep red color and imparts a golden yellow hue to the food to which it is added. The alchemists considered saffron the gold of the plant kingdom and believed it carried the "signature" of the great transmuting agent for which the alchemists spent their lives searching. According to legend, Hermes created saffron when he accidentally wounded his friend Crocus, whose blood dripped to earth and sprouted as the flower that bears his name. Saffron was sacred to the Egyptian supreme god, Amen, and the Egyptians grew it in their sacred gardens at Luxor. Persian priests were said to have controlled the winds with saffron, and Persian women attached balls of saffron to their bellies to facilitate safe pregnancies. Saffron was also sacred to Eos, the Greek god of the morning light, and the spice has been described as the dawn’s light solidified. In the Middle Ages, it was sprinkled over the beds of newlywed nobility to ensure a fruitful marriage, and the incense was used for psychic work. Alchemist Roger Bacon believed that saffron delayed the aging process, and some modern psychics believe its odor and taste connect one to the eternal essences of childhood.

I love reading stuff like this. There are things that we can just buy in the grocery store like it's nothing but they have all this interesting history, and might have been incredibly expensive and rare thousands of years ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morning Glory

It is the best natural antianxiety/antidepresant that I know. It has ssri and dopamine reuptake propieties.

It sounds good - if I hadn't just gone on meds I would try it. :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by popeet

Resurrecting this thread.

I tried saffron, but a medicinal dosage of loose spice in warm milk. I remember singing out loud, loudly, which I'm normally too self conscious to do at the volume I was doing it. I'm going to try so more, though I do remember feeling like I was cognitively dull and not quite right for a little while.

I had no idea that saffron could kill you! I think one need to eat a redline baggie full, though.

Nice thread resurrection.

__________________
"Sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic and fear, which is inherent in the human condition." ~ Graham Greene

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk

I recently stumbled upon a product that has many of the same things that I am already taking as well as saffron. However it has St. Johns Wort in it (which I tried and didn't like) so that was a deal breaker for me. for anyone interested...